Railway car



Nov.A 18 1924.

' F. H. HOPKINS RAILWAY CAR 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Aug. 12.

Nov. 18 1924. 1,515,598

F. H. HOPKINS RAILWAY CAR Filed Aug. 12 L92: 2 snags-sneu 2 fY//arnexPatented Nov. 13, 1924.,

FEICEH FRANK H. .l-OPKINS.y 0F MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA.

BALWAY CAB,

Application filed August 12, 1921.

To all whom t may concern: o.

Be it known that l, FRANK H. HOPKINS, of the city vof .Montreah Provinceof Quebec, Dominion of Canada, a subject of the King of Great Britain,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway Cars; and Ido hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription thereof.

My invention is described in relation. to general service cars and hasfor its object to provide means for .closing a relatively largedischarge opening, such means being adapted for manipulation to closethe opening by direct manual effort, that is to say by a trainman simplyemploying his own strength without extraneous means to lift the door toits closed position. To this end I provide a relatively large dooropening and a plurality of relatively small door sections adapted to belifted by the trainman to closed position without the necessity of theusual complicated and costly mechanisms heretofore required to developsufficient power to close the door.

For -full comprehension, however, of my invention reference must be hadto the accompanying drawings in which similar reference charactersindicate the same part and wherein: y

Figure 1 is a fragmentary plan view of a floor of a general service carprovided with my invention;

Figure 2 being a sectional view taken lon line 2-2 Figure 1; u

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3 3 Figure 1, andillustrating one door member dropped to discharge position and acompanion door member in raised position before being locked;

Figure 4 illustrates one of the doors in plan view on a larger scale;

Figures 5 and 6 are similar views illustrating a side and end;

Figures 7 and 8 are detail perspective views of the hinge; and

Figure 9 is a detail transverse sectional view of the overlapping edgesof doors the section being taken on line 9F@ Figure 4.

The body 10 of the car and its sub-structure 12 are in the main of usualconstruction, the doors beinghinged to the center sill 13 and supportedin raised and dropped position by the transverse girders 14 upon whichsuitable devices for the purpose are carried,

Serial No. 491,733.

a chain operated bar 15 and movable clips 150 supporting the doors inraised position; and a Z-bar`16 carried by a bracket 1'? on one of thecross-girders receiving the shoclr of the door when dropped andsupporting it in position to discharge the lading.

According to my invention the door opening of this general service caris closed by a plurality of door sections instead of'asv heretofore by asingle door. l have illustrated an embodiment in which a pair `of doormembers are used for each opening one of which l have marked Door 1 andthe other Door 2. These door sections are hinged at the same ends to thecenter still by hinge-pins 18 supported in brackets 19 riveted to thecenter sill, the doors being hinged upon these pins which are disposedin axial alignment. The hinge I prefer to use is built up of hingedplates 20 and angles 21 riveted respectively to the vertical flanges 22of longitudinal door reinforcing angle bars and transversereinforcingangle bars 23. The longitudinal reinforcing angle bars 25 atthe left and right hand sides of the door 1 and door 2 respectively aredisposed in juxtaposition with the edges of the door while thelongitudinal bar 26 is disposed a short distance inwardly from the leftedge of door 2 in order to present a flange 27 to overlap the contiguousedge of door 1. This particular arrangement of reinforcing angle barsnot only stiifens the doors in their longitudinal direction but alsoproduces in the edge of door 1 a direct support for the flange 27 asshown clearly in Figure 9, thus effecting a tight joint at this point.

rlhis construction also, presents an unobstructed door opening.

To discharge a car equipped with my invention the supporting bar 15 isdisplaced in the usual manner thus allowing the doors to drop onto thesupport 16. When the car has been discharged the door members may bereadily Closed by the operator by simply lifting them successively toplace, door 2 being lifted first and then door 1. The clips 150 are eachin turn projected over the bar 15 to hold up the doors while the bar isshifted to supporting position.

A car equipped with my invention has the advantage of expeditiousoperation, the

it will be observed,

`'door sections provided they are constructed to properly co-iict asdescribed7 Without de.- parting' from the'spirit or my invention.

TWhatI claim is as follows:

l. In rar for the purpose set itorth they bottom ot' which has a.discharge opening e plurality ot reacting' door sections and meanstorhinginn the same at one and the same side of the door opening; Withthe.

of the hinges in alignment, and displaceable means for supporting thedoor sections in raised position.

In a car for the purpose set forth the bottom ot which hss a dischargeopeni g, a plurality of coacting door sections and means for hingingg'the same Vat one. and the same side of the door opening, and'displaceable meansifor supportingthe door sections in :raised position.

In `a carftor'thc purpose set iortli the bottom of which' has adischarge opening, a plurality ot reacting` door sections .and means forhinging hte same at one and the suine side ott the door opening, thecontiguous edges `ofthe` said door sections having reinforcingmen'ibers. one of kWhich is dis-l posed ;inwardly from the edge topresent a.

flange to overlap the edge-.of the otherdoor section, andv displaceeblemeans for supporting'the door sections in raised position.

4:. In a car'for the purpose set forth the bottom ot which has.ii-discharge opening, a plurality otl coacting doorsections and means.for hinging the same at vone-and the same side of the door-opening',the contigu-y ous/edges of the said door sections having reinforcing'members, one of which isdisposed inwardly trom the edge to present aHanne to overlap the edge oi the other door se: tion and the seid otherdoor section having' a reinforcement memberin juxtaposition with itsoverlapped edge and displaceable means for supporting the door sectionsin raised position.

In a car for the purpose set forth the bottom of which has a dischargeopening', e. plurality oi" concting); door sections and means forhing-ing the same at one and the saine side ot the door opening' eachdoor heving longitudinal and transverse reinforcement n'iein'bers uponits underside, .and the. said hinging means consisting' of `hingepiarigidly secured to'tlie longitudinal reintorceinent members and angle.hingeplates disposed in juxtaposition with the said hino'edplates andrigidly securedito the trunsreY :e reinforcement means. brackets ifgjidlj. secured tothe center sill hinge pins disposed in alignmentthrough the brackets L ^l hinges ofthe door sections?` and disp .ablemeans ilor supporting the doorsections in raised position substantiallyas described.

(i. In a dump car, the combination of an unobstructed door opening, ot'a plurality of doors hinged at the sameside ot such door openinm toclose said door opening', and ineens or opening'- and-closinsc` lsuchdoors.

ff. In a dump Car, the combination ot a door open ot n plurality ofdoors hinged at the saine side'of such door opening, to close said dooropening', seid ldoors heini); adapted to be closed independently.

8. 'In :i dump car, .the combination of a door opeuingota plurality otdoors closing; such openingA and adapted 4to be" closed'independently oteach other, and means for opening` the doors simultaneously.

name to this specification in the presence of In testin'iony. whereof Ihave signed my

